Examples Of Sacrifice In Gran Torino

Gran Torino is a 1998 film directed by the highly acclaimed Clint Eastwood. Walt Kowalski is a Korean war veteran whose residence is in the midst of the crime-ridden Hmong neighborhood in Detroit. Walt’s prized possession is the Gran Torino which ultimately provides the olive branch to the young Thao and through their love for his car. There is this initial feeling that Walt is slightly racist, however once he puts his feeling aside and he realises the Thao has the same connection with his car he accepts that he is a responsible and respectful kid and is willing to help him break free of the horrific implications of the gang culture. There are a plethora of film techniques that highlight the key ideas and themes that are noticeably evident

Gran Torino encapsulates positive aspects of sacrifice especially prominent in the death scene of Walt. Eastwood utilises the effect of non-diegetic sound of the military drums presenting this type of sound to represent his army history and to highlight that he was going to war in behalf of Thao’s family and the Hmong community ending their own war with the gang. A low angle shot combined with panning creates tension and influences the audience to view Walt as a subdue character and is represented as an authority figure. Eastwood utilises these shots to help the audience understand what he is doing and that he wants to publicly free people from the oppression of living in a community surrounded by conflict and violence. Towards the conclusion of this scene a long shot is utilised and then fades into a high angle panning shot of Walt falling in slow motion to capture the sheer dramaticness of this climactic finale. Walt’s death scene symbolises the ultimate sacrifice that he makes for his beloved friends and it is because of this ultimate sacrifice ends the ongoing conflict between the Hmong gang and Thao’s family because the Gang were sent to jail. The Ultimate sacrifice that Walt showed that he was a beloved and honourable character in the end and gives Walt a sense of relief that as his friends are safe and are out of enemy territory he has ultimately

In the opening scene we see Walt staring in all directions showcasing his inquisitive nature and being aware of his surroundings. Walt is immediately drawn to the attention of his grandsons and granddaughter of what clothes the kids are wearing for example the granddaughter was exposing her midriff with a belly button piercing, which is totally disrespecting Walt and his deceased wife. There is a close up of Walt’s facial expressions and his face portrayed automatic disgust, which symbolises that he is innocent at this point because he has become a widower. Walt's clothing is very formal because he is wearing a brown suit and black/brown shirt, symbolising that he is stable, but also feeling remorse and sadness of his loss and his anger towards how his family are acting. There is a use of dialogue portrayed in the scene by one of Walt’s disrespectful grandsons, he leans down and says in the church, “spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch”. This dialogue was used to highlight humour for the audience as well as to show the conflicted relationship between his Grandson. Conflict is expressed in Gran Torino to showcase Walt’s hatred and disgust for his family and passionately execrates the fact that they are related which is noticeably indisputable from the way he acts in front of them and behind